Thursday February 14, 2019

Democratic US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) set off a firestorm on Sunday with a one-line Tweet on a third rail topic. The aftermath continues four days later. Canadian philosopher and public intellectual Marshal McLuhan famously observed that "the medium is the message." How is messaging changing with the advent of such radically different mediums? Is news/reality accelerating? Ludwig von Mises Institute President Jeff Deist joins the discussion...in today's Liberty Report...read on...

Thursday February 14, 2019

Libya is in a state of anarchic turmoil, with various groups fighting each other for control of the country, and as the Wall Street Journal reported last September, “Islamic State is staging a resurgence in chaotic Libya, claiming more than a dozen attacks in the North African country this year and threatening to disrupt the flow of oil from one of the world’s most significant suppliers.” To such mainstream media outlets as the Wall Street Journalthe fact that oil supplies are being disrupted is much more important than the savage IS attacks that result in slaughter of so many innocent people who are only foreigners, anyway.read on...

Wednesday February 13, 2019

The U.S. had called for a high level anti-Iran meeting in Poland. The purpose of the meeting was to bring with its allies and poodles into line with the U.S. agenda on Iran, to press them at least into issuing harsher sanctions. But the European rejected that.

“The idea was to have a conference, a ministerial, and basically break our diplomatic isolation on Iran,” said a person familiar with the planning of the event. “It started out as an Iran conference in disguise but has probably actually been forced to take on more actual broader Middle East content now."

The person added: “They changed some of the focus and were forced to pony up with content on Syria and Yemen particularly."

The meeting took place today but the European powers did not fall for the trick. They want keep the nuclear agreement with Iran...

Wednesday February 13, 2019

Two days ago, the New York Times carried an article by Times’ journalist Thomas Erdbrink entitled, “For Iran, a Grand Occasion to Bash the US,” which was about Iran’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of its revolution in 1979. The article included the following sentence, “And like some evil doppelgänger, the United States was omnipresent, despite having broken all ties with Iran in 1981.”read on...

Wednesday February 13, 2019

Where former Speaker Paul Ryan even broke House rules (and possibly the law) refusing to allow a War Powers challenge to Trump's alliance with Saudi Arabia to destroy Yemen, current Speaker Nancy Pelosi is allowing the measure to the Floor for a vote today. It is expected to pass by a large margin. Has the House finally turned against such dumb wars? Unfortunately that would not be a correct conclusion to draw. More in today's Liberty Report...read on...

Tuesday February 12, 2019

The latest extraordinary chapter in the bizarre world of Venezuelan politics is playing out before our eyes. After winning the 2018 presidential elections, Nicolás Maduro was inaugurated in January, only for the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó -- a man whom, at the time, less than 20 percent of the country had even heard of -- to declare himself President.

Guaidó was immediately backed by the governments of the US and UK, with Vice President Mike Pence stating, "Nicolás Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power. He has never won the presidency in a free and fair election, and has maintained his grip of power by imprisoning anyone who dares to oppose him."

I've previously cataloged how the media has been quick to echo the idea that Maduro is completely illegitimate and has been eager to position America's stance towards Venezuelan politics as one of a neutral arbiter.

Why do mainstream media outlets, who resist Trump at home, neatly align themselves with his administration's Venezuela policy? And why has there so little criticism of what is essentially an ongoing US-backed coup attempt?read on...

Tuesday February 12, 2019

The Trump Administration is twisting arms in Europe and in the Middle East in its ongoing determination to crush Iran. It seems a singular obsession. But the push-back is coming from and EU that remains (for now) dedicated to the Iran nuclear deal and from places like Iraq, which is being asked to act against its own interest to please Washington's Iran goals. Is it all coming apart? Tune in to today's Liberty Report...read on...

Monday February 11, 2019

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), who died yesterday, was a towering giant when it came to honesty and integrity. He broke the cardinal rule of Washington: he listened to his conscience, admitted he was wrong about the Iraq war, and dedicated his life to making amends for his vote for the war. He stepped across the aisle to work with Democrats - and with anyone who resisted the lies of the warmongers. We remember the great Walter Jones in today's Liberty Report...read on...

Monday February 11, 2019

Elite CIA-backed special forces in Afghanistan are leaving a trail of carnage in the country. As such units do not operate under the umbrella of the Department of Defense, they have been given near-impunity despite standing accused of war crimes.

Last month, the New York Times cited “senior Afghan and international officials” who said that while most strike forces in Afghanistan have been put under the purview of Afghan intelligence since 2012, two of the most “ruthless” units are “still sponsored mainly by the CIA.”

On Friday, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that at least one of these units has the capability of calling in air strikes.

Of the two special forces units that remain primarily influenced by the CIA, the name of only one was revealed: a group called “02” in the Nangarhar Province. The name of the unit in the Khost Province was not revealed. The units are trained and equipped by CIA agents and CIA contractors, and their fighters make three times the salary of a regular Afghan soldier. The unit in Khost is believed to have between 3,000 and 10,000 fighters while 02 is believed to be about 1,000 fighters strong.read on...